DDMA Headline Animator

Friday, December 17, 2010

Algeria, Tunisia partner for Oran factory

2010-12-16

A Tunisian-Algerian manufacturing consortium opened a new chemical plant in Oran on Wednesday (December 15th), Ansa reported. The facility targets annual production of 20,000 tonnes of aluminum sulfate and aluminum hydrate. Along with their manufacturing applications, the compounds are used to purify water.

Source: Magharebia.com.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2010/12/16/newsbrief-07.

Corruption rife in Morocco, Transparency International alleges

A just-released report painted a bleak picture of graft in Morocco.

By Siham Ali for Magharebia in Rabat – 16/12/10

Thirty-four per cent of Moroccans admit to having paid a bribe in the past 12 months, according to a recent study by Transparency International.

For its 2010 Global Corruption Barometer, released on December 9th, the Berlin-based organization interviewed more than 91,500 people in 86 countries and territories. Nearly one thousand heads of household, including 483 women, participated in the survey.

Seventy-nine per cent of Moroccans interviewed felt that corruption had either increased over recent years or stagnated while 91.7% felt that ordinary citizens can play a positive role in countering the problem. Although Transparency noted great potential for the public to get involved in combating the graft, 38% said that they would not be inclined to speak out in cases of corruption.

The release of the report coincided with the first-ever meeting of the International Corruption Hunters Alliance (ICHA). The head of Morocco's Central Authority for the Prevention of Corruption (ICPC), Abdessalam Aboudrar, participated in the Washington gathering, which brought together more than 200 officials from 134 countries.

Despite government efforts to tackle the issue, graft remains rampant across Morocco, with even the government officials openly admitting the extent of the problem.

Selham M, who works in the building trade, had to pay a sum of money "under the table" to the adjudicating panel before being allowed to bid for a public contract.

"They told me I didn't have the necessary references. It left me completely stuck, because I needed to get my business going. I'm against corruption, but first we need to clean up the business world so that competition can take place on a transparent basis," he told Magharebia.

Kawter Benmehdi, a management assistant, said that sometimes, in order to receive paperwork on time, it is necessary to bribe minor officials, or face the prospect of hanging around, doing nothing for several days.

According to Transparency Maroc chief Azzeddine Akesby, the lack of legislation to protect members of the public discourages those who have witnessed or suffered corruption from reporting it.

At the Parliament plenary session on December 8th, majority and opposition MPs questioned Public Sector Modernization Minister Mohamed Saad Alami about the problem.

Parliamentarian Mustapha Mohamed Ibrahimi considered that, despite recent anti-corruption measures, the reality of graft has not changed, and is seriously damaging the principles of competition and reducing the attractiveness of investment.

For his part, MP Lahbib Choubani said that the government had demonstrated its powerlessness in the face of this scourge, calling for top officials to open up their departments to full public scrutiny.

"Corruption has become culturally embedded in society, and we need public awareness campaigns to eradicate this evil," Representative Omar Hjira said, adding that even ordinary citizens should bear the blame since they are the ones who pay bribes.

Meanwhile, MP Abdelkader Tatou stressed the need to start by attacking large-scale corruption, which is the biggest danger, rather than focusing on minor officials who resort to bribes because they are poorly paid.

Alami said the government was determined to put an end to the problem, reminding that it had adopted a two-year plan in October, designed to prevent and combat corruption. The program aims to raise moral standards among the public and introduce rules to guarantee transparency between the citizen and government, in financial management and public tenders as well as strengthen control mechanisms within the public administration.

"We shall put some concrete mechanisms in place to put an end to this problem," Alami pledged.

Source: Magharebia.com.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2010/12/16/feature-03.

Mauritanian journalists unveil advocacy group

2010-12-16

Mauritanian journalists launched a new organization Wednesday (December 15th) in Nouakchott, ANI reported. The "Club of Journalists and Reporters" aims to defend any threat to the exercise of the members' profession. According to a statement from the new body, it is "far from being an adversary or competitor to existing news organizations" but rather aims to "enrich and complement" other media entities to protect journalists' interests.

Source: Magharebia.com.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2010/12/16/newsbrief-05.

Libya, Italian firms ink motorway construction deal

2010-12-16

Libya and an Italian consortium signed a 125 million euro construction deal for the Ras- Jédir- M'Saad highway, Pana reported on Wednesday (December 15th). The 1700km, cross-country motorway project is part of Italy's commitment under the 2008 Italy-Libya Friendship Treaty.

Source: Magharebia.com.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2010/12/16/newsbrief-03.

Mauritania rights body president examines progress

While the status of human rights has improved across the country, Mauritania still needs to pass additional reforms, according to rights monitors.

Interview by Hamdi Ould Cheikh for Magharebia in Nouakchott – 16/12/10

Bamariam Baba Koita is the President of the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH), an independent body tasked with investigating human rights abuses in Mauritania. Koita does everything from reviewing citizens' complaints to rehabilitating victims of slavery. Magharebia sat down for an interview with Koita in his Nouakchott office to discuss a number of topics ranging from women's rights to prison conditions to how terrorism could negatively impact civil liberties in the country.

Magharebia: What is your assessment of the human rights situation in Mauritania?

Bamariam Baba Koita: The overall situation regarding human rights in our country is characterised by a general political consensus about the need to legislate and put an end to the humanitarian failures experienced by the country in the past. However, if there is to be open participation by NGOs in promoting and defending human rights, then a great many constraints and obstacles first need to be identified and removed.

Among the constraints which need to be lifted is the lack of material resources, as is the case in the least developed countries, and the lack of human resources tasked with integrating human rights into development strategies. The high rate of unemployment and the weakness of the inspection systems put in place by the workplace inspectorate.

Essential undertakings and new initiatives to encourage the emergence of a human rights culture could follow this route: A deepening and consolidation of peaceful and consensual democratic rule though partnership and dialogue; the transparent and diligent operation of the justice administration as a real supporter and guardian of personal freedoms; the improvement of prison conditions to meet international standards and the promotion of policies to provide an alternative to detention.

And the strengthening of national unity by correcting previous humanitarian failures, by completing the process of identifying and rehabilitating those state officials who fell victim to the events of 1989, and the large-scale and urgent eradication of the after-effects of slavery through education, vocational training, employment and work to tackle poverty.

[In addition, there must be a] fight against all kinds of discrimination and the protection of minority and vulnerable groups. With this in mind, the 20% quota set aside for women should be raised, the specific needs of minority groups (languages and cultures) considered, the granting of legal assistance to those suffering from a handicap and legal protection of minors assured.

The bills to incriminate and crack down on slavery and bills to govern women's rights, in addition to their harmonisation with duly ratified conventions, must be published, announced, made known to the general public and made available to the authorities responsible for enforcing the law.

Magharebia: In the light of the picture you have just painted, what is the CNDH's assessment?

Koita: The National Human Rights Commission (CNDH), since the Promulgation of the law of 20 July 2010, has become a major institution for the protection and promotion of human rights in Mauritania.

It is unique because of its independent involvement in the search for solutions to the problems of human rights violations in Mauritania.

It is as part of this that a number of CNDH missions have visited all the wilayas throughout the country to undertake investigations or to lead campaigns to make human rights more widely known and respected.

Activities to promote human rights have also continued with the organisation of workshops and seminars to raise awareness of cultural rights, rights in the workplace, children's rights, the rights of disabled people, on the topic of transitional justice, and the relationship between human rights and international humanitarian laws. These activities were carried out with a number of partners, particularly as part of activities to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of national independence.

On top of this, the CNDH receives hundreds of complaints from members of the public, families or communities to do with land disputes. Looking at these complaints, it became manifestly clear that we were faced with a situation of general litigation across all agricultural regions within the country.

It is a daily task of the CNDH to welcome, listen to and advise dozens of citizens who have come to tell us about their concerns regarding human rights.

The commission has noted that progress seen in human rights practices has chiefly resulted from the willingness of the authorities to be objectively informed about the real situation regarding human rights so that they can find suitable solutions, which means that the CNDH is completely free to carry out its work to alert, assess and watch human rights in the country in an independent manner.

So the Network of Arab National Human Rights Institutions decided at its meeting in 2010 in Rabat that its 7th session would take place in Nouakchott in 2011.

Magharebia: The situation facing prisoners in Nouakchott is a difficult one. Press reports talk of several deaths and overcrowding in prisons. What has your institution been doing in this area?

Koita: By virtue of the law, the CNDH is now a national mechanism to monitor human rights observance within penal establishments and detention premises, with its legal powers to undertake unannounced visits.

In exercising these powers, CNDH members, after visiting all the prisons in the country and the majority of detention premises including police stations, drew up an uncompromising report, calling for urgent decisions to be taken to improve detention conditions, particularly in Dar Naim prison.

However, it must be said that the authorities have recently taken some major steps in this direction, and they have taken on board just how much needs to be done to put the situation right.

Magharebia: Slavery continues to provide a topic for debate in Mauritania. Officially, it has been abolished. There is a law to make it a criminal offence. However, some organisations which exist to help the Haratines (former slaves) continue to say that the law is not being applied and that violations continue. How do you respond to that?

Koita: The legislation to abolish slavery in Mauritania has gone through several stages to reach its present and most detailed form as constituted by the 2007 law which makes slavery a criminal offence and cracks down on slavery-related activities. One of the features of this law is to set out prison terms and fines for any approved authority which has not followed up on reports of slavery-related practices of which it has been made aware, particularly by human rights associations which are officially recognised and approved to submit such reports.

Magharebia: Is there anything else you would like to say?

Koita: In a sub-regional environment facing new security threats arising from the rise in cross-border terrorism, drugs trafficking and illegal immigration, which are potential avenues for serious human rights violations, in a national context characterised by the unequivocal political will to find lasting solutions to human rights problems, to modernise Mauritanian society, and given the clear support of the country's economic partners, the CNDH would like the state to complete the various reforms which are currently under way, the final result of which should be to make the rule of law and full respect for human rights the watchword in Mauritania.

Source: Magharebia.com.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2010/12/16/feature-02.

Malaysia ire over 'copying Israel'

Opposition leader banned from parliament for six months after saying country's unity slogan was Israel-inspired.

16 Dec 2010

Malaysia's ruling coalition has won a parliamentary vote to suspend Anwar Ibrahim, the opposition leader, from the legislature for six months.

Anwar had been accused of abusing "his right and privileges as an MP" after he criticized the government's "One Malaysia" slogan for national unity.

The opposition leader said the slogan was inspired by "One Israel", the name used for the political alliance of Ehud Barak, the former Israeli prime minister, ahead of the 1999 Knesset elections.

Anwar and dozens of other opposition legislators stormed out of parliament's lower house during the vote on Thursday, following scenes of pandemonium and shouting. Some opposition members held posters denouncing the lower house as "a kangaroo court", claiming Anwar was unfairly targeted.

The suspension was the government's "way of mocking the people's voice, preventing us from defending ourselves," Anwar said after Thursday's vote.

Allies suspended

Three of his top allies were also suspended for leaking details about a parliamentary investigation into his remarks.

Anwar and his three colleagues will be barred from parliamentary debates and votes through June, but they can continue other political work, such as addressing rallies.

Muslim-majority Malaysia has no diplomatic relations with Israel and is a supporter of a Palestinian state.

Najib Razak, the Malaysian prime minister, has been trying to reach out to Chinese and Indian minorities under the "One Malaysia" initiative after they deserted the government in the 2008 national polls.

The suspension of the MPs eroded the opposition's representation to less than one-third of the 222-member parliament. That could allow the ruling coalition to make changes to election constituency boundaries before the next national polls.

In an ongoing trial, Anwar is being tried on charges that he sodomized a male former aide in 2008. He faces a 20-year prison sentence if convicted of the accusation, which he says was fabricated as a repeat of a government conspiracy that saw him dismissed as deputy prime minister in 1998 and eventually convicted on charges of graft.

The government has denied the conspiracy allegations.

Source: al-Jazeera.
Link: http://english.aljazeera.net//news/asia-pacific/2010/12/2010121641256448678.html.

Abuse 'widespread' in Kashmir jails

Leaked cable suggests US diplomats were briefed by the Red Cross of continued torture in Indian-administered Kashmir.

17 Dec 2010

Torture has been routinely used in prisons in Indian-administered Kashmir, a US cable released by the whistleblower website WikiLeaks has suggested.

The cable, released on Thursday, says that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) had briefed US diplomats on widespread torture in 2005.

The memo, titled "ICRC frustrated with the Indian government"dates back to April 6, 2005, and outlines a confidential meeting in which the ICRC told diplomats of "torture methods and relatively stable trends of prisoner abuses by Indian security forces", based on data derived from 1,491 interviews with detainees from 2002-2004.

ICRC was quoted as saying their staff made 177 visits to detention centers in Jammu and Kashmir and conducted 1,296 private interviews, but reported that "they had not been allowed access to all detainees".

Techniques included electric shock treatment, sexual and water torture and nearly 300 cases of "roller" abuse in which a round metal object is placed on the thighs of a sitting detainee and then sat on by guards to crush the muscles, according to the cable.

The memo added that since torture and ill-treatment continues unabated, "the ICRC is forced to conclude that the Government of India (GOI) condones torture".

Prerna Suri, Al Jazeera's correspondent in New Delhi, said though shocking, the allegations were not new.

"Human rights groups and activists have been bringing out all these allegations in the last few years at various public fora," she said.

"The spokesperson of the government of India said that this is an internal assessment of American diplomats, and for them isn't something that would warrant a response to."

Suri added that India has consistently denied human rights abuses in Kashmir, and that it is alleged that the root problem comes from a special dispensation that governs Indian troops in Kashmir.

"The Armed Forces special Powers Act gives the army sweeping immunity ... They can pick up civilians who they think are perpetrators, and in some cases they can also get away with killings and torture with any prosecution ... and some say that this is where the rot actually stems from".

Growing anger

Suri said the cable was likely to create more restlessness in the region.

"We have seen this year, some of the worst protests on the streets of Srinagar ... Hundreds of thousands of people came out on to the streets protesting [against] army rule."

The cable said the ICRC revealed to US diplomats that in 852 cases, detainees reported cases of ill-treatment, including various forms of torture. As many as 681 detainees were said to be subjected to more than one form of ill-treatment.

The memo added that the ICRC reported that ill-treatment and torture "is regular and widespread" and "always takes place in the presence of officers" and that the ICRC "has raised these issues with the government of India for more than 10 years".

The cable added that while the ICRC reported that security forces were rougher on detainees in the past, "detainees were rarely militants [they are routinely killed], but persons connected to or believed to have information about the insurgency".

Violence linked to insurgents in Indian Kashmir has eased since nuclear-armed India and Pakistan launched a peace process in 2004 over the disputed Himalayan region.

But popular pro-independence protests since June have left more than 110 protesters and bystanders -- many of them teenagers - dead.

India and Pakistan each hold part of Kashmir but claim it in full.

Source: al-Jazeera.
Link: http://english.aljazeera.net//news/asia/2010/12/201012176626768258.html.

Civilian tortured in police custody in Reasi dies

Srinagar, December 16 (KMS): In occupied Kashmir, a 40-year-old civilian was tortured in police custody and died in a hospital in Jammu.

The civilian identified as Manoj Kumar was arrested by the police personnel on Tuesday evening from Janana Park in Reasi town and was subjected to torture during the night in Reasi police station.

The victim was removed to district hospital Reasi as his condition deteriorated due to torture. The doctors provided him preliminary treatment and referred him to the government medical college and hospital Jammu, where he died in the emergency unit.

The family members of Manoj told media men that he was severely tortured by the police and now the SHO, Reasi, Varinder Gupta and others personnel were cooking stories just to save their skin.

Source: Kashmir Media Service (KMS).
Link: http://www.kmsnews.org/news/civilian-tortured-police-custody-reasi-dies.

Mirwaiz, Gilani, Shabbir placed under house arrest

Srinagar, December 17 (KMS): In occupied Kashmir, the authorities have placed the All Parties Hurriyet Conference Chairman, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, senior Hurriyet leaders, Syed Ali Gilani, Shabbir Ahmed Shah and Nayeem Ahmad Khan, under house arrest to prevent them from addressing Juma congregations and participating in Muharram processions, today.

Mirwaiz Umer Farooq was arrested along with a dozen of Awami Action Committee (AAC) activists and three journalists when a huge contingent of SOG and paramilitary CRPF troopers cordoned off Mirwaiz Manzil in Rajouri Kadal and forcibly took Mirwaiz along.

"Mirwaiz along with 15 activists of Awami Action Committee (AAC) were arrested from the Mirwaiz manzil, the head office of AAC at Rajouri Kadal " APHC spokesman said.

Senior Superintendent of Police, Srinagar told media men, "Mirwaiz has been taken into preventive custody and shifted to his residence at Nigeen, and put him under house arrest while other activists were lodged in different police stations."

Source: Kashmir Media Service (KMS).
Link: http://www.kmsnews.org/news/mirwaiz-gilani-shabbir-placed-under-house-arrest-0.

Curfew restrictions imposed in Srinagar on muharram

Srinagar, Dec 17 (KMS): In occupied Kashmir, the authorities imposed curfew and other restrictions in Srinagar, today, to prevent mourners to take out the Muharram procession through the city.

The decision to impose curfew in the areas falling within the jurisdiction of seven police stations of Kothibagh, Kral Khud, M.R. Gunj, Maisuma, Nowhatta, Ram Moonshi Bagh, Safa Kadal and Khanyar that includes Jama Masjid area also of district Srinagar from 6 am on December 17, 2010 till further orders was taken by the district administration, Srinagar

Meanwhile, according to SP Traffic Srinagar, in view of the curfew imposed by the district administration in seven police station areas, there will be no traffic movement from Jehangir Chowk to Dalgate Bridge via M A Road. Traffic will not be allowed from Jehangir Chowk-Hari Singh High Street-Residency Road up to Radio Kashmir Crossing also. Traffic movement will also not be allowed in old city areas.

Meanwhile, senior APHC leader, Agha Syed Hassan Al-Moosvi in a statement issued in Srinagar appealed the people to converge largely on Aabi Guzar in Srinagar to participate in the Aashura procession.

Source: Kashmir Media Service (KMS).
Link: http://www.kmsnews.org/news/curfew-restrictions-imposed-srinagar-muharram.

Mian Abdul Qayoom sent to judicial custody

Jammu, December 16 (KMS): In occupied Kashmir, a court has sent illegally detained President of the High Court Bar Association of the territory, Mian Abdul Qayoom to judicial custody.

Mian Qayoom was produced before a court on Wednesday, which sent him to judicial lock up. He was arrested on July 7, this year, after he led an anti-India demonstration in Srinagar. Later, he was later booked under the PSA.

The Bar President was freed from Kot Bhalwal jail on November 29 as his detention under the PSA was quashed by the High Court. However, as soon as he came out of the jail, he was re-arrested again by the police in connection with a false case registered against him at Hiranagar police station and was booked again under the PSA.

Source: Kashmir Media Service (KMS).
Link: http://www.kmsnews.org/news/mian-abdul-qayoom-sent-judicial-custody.

Use of brute force on mourners in Srinagar condemned

Srinagar, December 16 (KMS): In occupied Kashmir, veteran Kashmiri Hurriyet leader, Syed Ali Gilani and senior APHC leader, Shabbir Ahmed Shah have strongly condemned the imposition of curfew and use of brute force against mourners in Srinagar by the occupation authorities.

Syed Ali Gilani in a statement in Srinagar termed the authorities’ actions as state terrorism and open interference in religious affairs of the people. He pointed out that the puppet administration was dealing every matter through the barrel of gun and the unabated state terrorism had made the common man’s life miserable.

The veteran Hurriyet leader took strong exception to Bharatiya Janata Party leader, Ashok Khajuria’s recent statement wherein he had stated that India would never grant Azadi to Kashmir even if four more generations of Kashmiri Muslims end up with the demand. Syed Ali Gilani said that Hindu fascist and communal forces in tandem with the Indian Army were conspiring to commit widespread extermination of Muslims in the territory.

He maintained that the army was under the influence of rightwing parties in India and its top officers were working to change the demography of the territory by carrying out genocide of Muslims on the pattern of 1947.

On the other hand, denouncing the imposition of curfew and use of force on mourners, senior APHC leader, Shabbir Ahmad Shah termed it sheer interference in the religious affairs of people and denial of fundamental right to perform the religious rituals.

“The repressive steps being taken by the authorities to suppress the peoples’ religious and political feelings in Valley have belied their all claims of democracy,” he said in a statement.

Source: Kashmir Media Service (KMS).
Link: http://www.kmsnews.org/news/use-brute-force-mourners-srinagar-condemned.

Arrest of students triggers protests in Sopore

Srinagar, December 16 (KMS): In occupied Kashmir, the arrest of three innocent students triggered massive anti-India protests in Sopore town.

The personnel of Special Operations Group (SOG) of Indian police arrested the students who were coming out of Degree College Sopore after appearing in BA/BSc/BCom 1st year examination. Eyewitnesses told media men that the students were bundled in a waiting police vehicle.

As the news about their arrest spread, other students appearing in the examination and youth took to the streets and staged anti-India and pro-freedom demonstrations.

Paramilitary CRPF troopers and SOG personnel resorted to baton charge and teargas shelling to disperse the protesters who were demanding release of the students.

Source: Kashmir Media Service (KMS).
Link: http://www.kmsnews.org/news/arrest-students-triggers-protests-sopore.

Kashmiris asked to converge at Jamia Masjid tomorrow

India usurping fundamental rights of Kashmiri people

Srinagar, December 16 (KMS): In occupied Kashmir, the All Parties Hurriyet Conference Chairman, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has announced that despite imposition of restrictions by the authorities, he will offer Juma prayers at historic Jamia Mosque in Srinagar, tomorrow. The APHC Chairman addressing a press conference at Mirwaiz Manzil in Srinagar, today, urged the people to massively congregate in the Jamia Masjid at Juma prayers.

He reiterated that the struggle for securing Kashmiris’ right to self-determination would continue at all costs. The authorities have not allowed the APHC Chairman to offer Juma prayers for the last many Fridays.

Senior APHC leader, Agha Syed Hassan Al-Moosvi in a statement issued in Srinagar appealed the people to converge largely on Aabi Guzar in Srinagar to participate in the Aashura procession. APHC leader, Ghulam Ahmed Mir in his statement in Jammu deplored that India had usurped all the fundamental rights of the Kashmiris.

APHC leaders addressing a function at Martyrs’ Graveyard in Srinagar paid rich tributes to prominent Kashmiri Mujahid commander, Shams-ul-Haq on his 17th martyrdom anniversary.

On the other hand, a civilian died in a hospital in Jammu after he was severely tortured in police custody in Reasi police station. The victim identified as Manoj Kumar was arrested by the police personnel on Tuesday evening from Janana Park in Reasi town and was subjected to torture during the night.

People took to streets in Sopore town and staged protests against the arrest of college students by Indian police.

Source: Kashmir Media Service (KMS).
Link: http://www.kmsnews.org/news/kashmiris-asked-converge-jamia-masjid-tomorrow.

Religious leader beaten in Kutupalong camp by drunken villager

Thursday, 16 December 2010

Ukhiya, Bangladesh: A religious leader at the unregistered Kutupalong makeshift camp was assaulted by local villagers on December 14, said a refugee from the camp.

A villager living near the camp and identified only as Kholil entered the camp after getting drunk and began harassing camp residents, and the religious leader from Block A, identified as Moulana Yousuf, 30, confronted the man for his misbehavior.

A relative of the Moulana Yousuf said the drunken Kholil responded by beating him in front of the camp mosque.

Other refugees rushed to the spot to intervene, but no action was taken against the drunken assailant.

“We did not beat him because it would cause difficulties for the unregistered refugees in the future,” said one camp resident.

He added that local youths often enter the unregistered camp and harass refugee women and girls.

Source: Kaladan Press Network.
Link: http://www.kaladanpress.org/v3/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2950:religious-leader-beaten-in-kutupalong-camp-by-drunken-villager.

Bolivia recognizes Palestine

17/12/2010

BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) -- Bolivia announced Friday its recognition of a fully sovereign Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with Israel.

President Evo Morales made the announcement at a conference with regional leaders in Brazil, Bolivian's Foreign Affairs Ministry said.

“Bolivia recognizes the Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, like Brazil and Argentina,” Morales said.

Source: Ma'an News Agency.
Link: http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=342977.

Turkey decides to build first war plane

Turkish National Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul said that they decided to project the country's first war plane.

Thursday, 16 December 2010

Turkish National Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul said that they decided to project the country's first war plane.

Gonul said after the Defense Industry meeting which lasted for about four hours under the leadership of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, "we have been reviewing the offers under the project for meeting helicopter requirements of both the Turkish Armed Forces and the other public institutions. Since we did not consider the offers of the Sikorksy of the USA and Agusta Westland of Italy as sufficient, we decided to continue hold talks."

"On the other hand, we have given directives for a war plane project in Turkey for the first time. The plane will be a new generation jet and fly with F16 and F35 jets," he said.

Asked whether Turkey would cooperate with South Korea to manufacture the war plane, Gonul said, "there are 5-6 countries in the world manufacturing war planes. South Korea also wants to build war planes just like Turkey. We can cooperate with South Korea. For the time being, we decided to manufacture Turkey's own war plane."

Source: World Bulletin.
Link: http://www.worldbulletin.net/news_detail.php?id=67451.

Turkey starts trying top military officers in landmark coup trial

A Turkish court began hearing a landmark case against some 200 soldiers, among them senior commanders, charged over an alleged 2003 plot to topple the ruling government.

Thursday, 16 December 2010

A Turkish court Thursday began hearing a landmark case against some 200 soldiers, among them senior commanders, charged over an alleged 2003 plot to topple the ruling government.

The trial started in a huge courtroom inside a prison complex in Silivri, a town near Istanbul, with a judge confirming the identities of the suspects.

The most high-profile defendants present in the courtroom were the alleged mastermind of the coup plot, retired general Cetin Dogan, as well as the former chiefs of the navy and the air force, Ozden Ornek and Ibrahim Firtina.

The Sledgehammer plot is said to have included the bombing of two major mosques in Istanbul, an attack on a military museum by people disguised as "Muslim fundamentalists" and the provocation of military tensions with neighboring Greece.

It is alleged that these events would have thrown the country into chaos, allowing the military to declare a state of emergency and overthrow the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling AK Party.

Detentions of the suspects after the coup plans came to light were the first in Turkish history of such high-ranking officers, who were previously considered "untouchable." All of the suspects were later released until the trial.

The defendants, important figures in NATO's second biggest army, deny any conspiracy and say scenarios discussed at a military seminar seven years ago were merely a war game exercise.

On Tuesday the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) announced that it was replacing the chief judge in the Sledgehammer case because of allegations by the ministry of justice that he had ties to suspects in the Ergenekon trial, as well as connections to a drug ring and prostitution activities.

However, the timing of the chief judge's reassignment, just two days before the start of the trial, drew criticism and speculation.

Retired General Cetin Dogan, the former head of the First Army region as lead author of the coup plan is the main suspect.

"When the time comes in court for the defense I will say that this case does not have a legitimate basis," General Dogan said.

"I am very relaxed. I am on the right side and have never been on illegitimate ground. I am not a man of coups," he said before entering the court, which is located in a prison complex.

All but 10 of the defendants attended the hearing.

Hundreds of defendants, many perceived as hardline secularists, are already on trial at the same court in connection with a series of alleged coup plots allegedly orchestrated by the shadowy Ergenekon network.

The officers in the Sledgehammer case, who are not being held in custody, face jail sentences of 15-20 years if found guilty of plotting to destabilize the government.

Interest in the case was reawakened this week by a police raid on a naval base, which local media reports say led to the confiscation of documents that will be used as evidence.

The trial comes a little over six months before a parliamentary election. Erdogan is widely expected to win a third consecutive term.

The army has toppled four civilian governments since 1960.

Source: World Bulletin.
Link: http://www.worldbulletin.net/news_detail.php?id=67463.

Erdogan becomes first Turkish PM to join Karbala mournings

Erdogan is the first prime minister of Turkey to attend a ceremony organized to commemorate the tragedy at Karbala.

Thursday, 16 December 2010

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said he sees the problems faced by members of all religious groups in Turkey as his own, as he appealed to thousands of Jafaris in İstanbul who mourned the murder of Hussain, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad and the son of Imam Ali, and 72 of his companions in 680 in Karbala, part of modern-day Iraq.

Erdoğan is the first prime minister of Turkey to attend a ceremony organized to commemorate the tragedy at Karbala.

Erdoğan delivered a speech during a ceremony in İstanbul, which took place in the Halkalı district's Zeynebiye neighborhood. Arriving in Aşure Square, thousands of people in black garb mourned the tragedy, which took place 1,370 years ago.

“We have been feeling the pain of Karbala for 1,370 years. We have to feel that pain in our hearts. We remember Hussain whenever an innocent person is killed,” the prime minister said as he began his speech.

Recalling some past incidents in which Turkey's Alevi and Shiite community clashed with Sunnis, Erdoğan referred to such incidents as provocations.

“This country is ours, these lands are all ours, this history, this civilization is ours. Nobody can claim superiority to any other. We are equal to each other and we are all brothers in these lands. We are all first-class citizens of this country. The problems of all religious groups in my country are mine. That's why we are struggling to address century-old problems through consensus. Aren't there those who oppose us? Of course, there are. But we will overcome this with patience,” the prime minister said.

In addition to the prime minister, State Minister Faruk Çelik, Republican People's Party (CHP) Secretary-General Süheyl Batum, İstanbul Governor Hüseyin Avni Mutlu and ruling Justice and Development Party's (AK Party) İstanbul Provincial Chairman Aziz Pabuşçu were in attendance.

During his speech, Erdoğan put emphasis on the National Unity and Brotherhood project of his government, which aims to address problems of various ethnic and belief groups in Turkey.

Source: World Bulletin.
Link: http://www.worldbulletin.net/news_detail.php?id=67483.

PM: WikiLeaks has not broken Australian law

By ROHAN SULLIVAN, Associated Press – Thu Dec 16

SYDNEY – Police in Australia have concluded that WikiLeaks and its Australian-born founder Julian Assange have not broken any laws in his home country by publishing classified U.S. documents, the government said Friday.

The finding has no direct bearing on investigations in the United States into the original leaking of the thousands of classified diplomatic documents to Assange's organization, or the sexual assault allegations for which he is wanted in Sweden.

But it will come as good news to Assange, who has complained of persecution by the Australian government over the publication of the documents, which have outraged Washington and been condemned by the United States and its allies.

Assange has not said he wants to return to Australia, though his mother and son both live in the country.

The government said last month it had ordered Australian Federal Police to determine whether WikiLeaks had broke any Australian laws by publishing the U.S. cables. Reports of documents obtained by WikiLeaks have included classified reports from the U.S. Embassy in Canberra to the State Department.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard on Friday said the police had now reported back to the government.

"The advice is that there has been no breaches of Australian law," Gillard told reporters.

Attorney-General Robert McClelland gave a little more information, saying in a statement that, on the current information available, police had not identified any criminal offenses within Australia's jurisdiction so no formal investigation had been launched.

Gillard again condemned WikiLeaks for publishing the documents, saying it was "grossly irresponsible." The government has said publication of the internal documents could harm relations between governments.

She said whoever leaked the documents to WikiLeaks had clearly broken U.S. laws. She said that theft was appropriately being investigated by U.S. authorities. Australian officials have said they are assisting U.S. authorities in that investigation.

Assange was released on bail Thursday from a London jail, where he was being held in connection to the Swedish sexual molestation allegations. Assange has denied any wrongdoing, but has said that he is concerned that if he goes to Sweden he may eventually be sent to the United States on charges related to the leaks.

No such charges have been laid, but U.S. officials are investigating whether Assange could be charged in U.S. court under the Espionage Act or face other crimes — such as theft of government property or receipt of stolen government property.

The U.S. government suspects WikiLeaks received the documents from an Army private, Bradley Manning, who is in the brig on charges of leaking other classified documents to the organization.

Judge grants bail to WikiLeaks' Julian Assange

By CASSANDRA VINOGRAD, Associated Press – Thu Dec 16

LONDON – Julian Assange will be heading to a British country mansion after a U.K. judge rejected attempts to keep the WikiLeaks founder in prison as he fights extradition to Sweden on sex-crimes allegations.

Cheers erupted Thursday from supporters outside the neo-Gothic London court at the verdict by High Court Justice Duncan Ouseley.

Assange's lawyer, Mark Stephens, said he was "utterly delighted" with the ruling, which included an order that prosecutors pay his client's court costs.

Assange has been in a U.K. prison since Dec. 7, following his surrender to British police over a Swedish warrant relating to the sex-crimes inquiry. He denies any wrongdoing but is refusing Sweden's request to extradite him for questioning.

Prosecutors had argued there was a risk the 39-year-old Australian would abscond if he was freed. But Ouseley said if Assange fled "he would diminish himself in the eyes of many of his supporters" — and make famous backers like filmmaker Michael Moore look foolish.

"I don't accept that Mr. Assange has an incentive not to attend (court)," Ouseley said. "He clearly does have some desire to clear his name."

Assange, dressed in a dark gray suit, smiled and gave a thumb's up sign to a packed courtroom as he was led from the dock by guards. But Assange may still spend another night in jail as supporters scramble to fill out the paperwork.

His lawyers need to produce the 200,000 pounds ($316,000) bail pledged by several wealthy supporters, and produce signatures from several guarantors. WikiLeaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson told The Associated Press there was only a "slim chance" the formalities could be completed before Friday.

Some journalists in the packed courtroom were disappointed Thursday when the judge said they would not be allowed to tweet during the hearing. Two days ago, another U.K. judge broke legal ground by allowing them to give live updates of Assange's bail hearing using the microblogging site Twitter.

Assange was granted conditional bail Tuesday, but prosecutors appealed.

According to the bail conditions set by Ouseley, Assange must wear an electronic tag, report to police every day and observe a curfew. He also must stay at a registered address — a 10-bedroom mansion in eastern England owned by Vaughan Smith, a WikiLeaks supporter and founder of London's Frontline Club for journalists.

Two women have accused Assange of sexual misconduct — including rape, molestation and unlawful coercion — for separate incidents in August in Sweden. He has not been charged.

Assange's lawyers say the allegations stem from a dispute over "consensual but unprotected sex" and argue that he has offered to make himself available for questioning via video link or in person in Britain.

Lawyer Gemma Lindfield, acting for Sweden, said the allegations had enhanced Assange's reputation among his supporters, who "view it as part of the wider conspiracy." She said given Assange's nomadic lifestyle and loose ties to some of those promising bond, there was "a real risk" he would flee.

But the judge said when Assange arrived in Britain, he had asked his lawyers to contact police so they would know where he was.

"That is not the conduct of a person who is seeking to evade justice," Ouseley said.

Swedish Prosecutor Marianne Ny said the bail decision would not change the ongoing investigation in Sweden, and the extradition case would be handled by British authorities.

Assange's next extradition hearing is set for Jan. 11.

Sweden says the claims against Assange have nothing to do with WikiLeaks' secret-spilling, but his supporters suspect the claims are politically motivated.

WikiLeaks has deeply angered U.S. officials and made headlines around the world by beginning to publish a trove of 250,000 secret U.S. diplomatic cables. The move last month came after the group last summer leaked secret U.S. military documents about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that U.S. officials said put the lives of informers at risk.

Officials in Washington claim some other countries have already curtailed their dealings with the U.S. government as a result of the cable leaks.

The latest batch of secret U.S. cables included revelations that Chevron Corp. expressed interest in developing oil reserves straddling the Iran-Iraq border — at potential risk of violating U.S. sanctions against Tehran. They also described a gas leak on a BP PLC platform in Azerbaijan two years ago that had similarities to this summer's Gulf of Mexico disaster.

Also Thursday, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva denied one of the most embarrassing claims, saying neither she nor her staff had ever spied on U.N. officials as suggested in one of the cables.

"I just want to assure everybody we're not collecting data on U.N. officials," U.S. Ambassador Betty E. King told reporters in Geneva.

WikiLeaks says on its website the leaked U.S. diplomatic cables "show the extent of US spying on its allies and the UN" and how American officials turn "a blind eye to corruption and human rights abuse" in allied nations.

The U.S. government says the cables depict the normal workings of diplomacy.

___

Associated Press Writers Jill Lawless in London, Frank Jordans in Geneva and Malin Rising in Stockholm contributed to this report.

Court: Irish abortion ban violates women's rights

By SHAWN POGATCHNIK, Associated Press – Thu Dec 16

DUBLIN – Ireland's constitutional ban on abortion violates pregnant women's right to receive proper medical care in life-threatening cases, the European Court of Human Rights ruled Thursday, harshly criticizing Ireland's long inaction on the issue.

The Strasbourg, France-based court ruled that a pregnant woman fighting cancer should have been allowed to get an abortion in Ireland in 2005 rather than being forced to go to England for the procedure.

The judgment put Ireland under pressure to draft a law extending abortion rights to women whose pregnancies represent a potentially fatal threat to their own health. But Catholic leaders and anti-abortion activists insisted that Ireland had no legal obligation to do anything despite the court ruling.

Cardinal Sean Brady, leader of Ireland's 4 million Catholics, said the ruling "leaves future policy in Ireland on protecting the lives of unborn children in the hands of the Irish people and does not oblige Ireland to introduce legislation authorizing abortion."

Ireland has failed to pass any laws supporting a 1992 judgment from the Irish Supreme Court that said Ireland should provide abortions in cases where a woman's life is endangered — including, controversially, by her own threats to commit suicide.

The 18-year delay has created a legal limbo, forcing many women to travel overseas for an abortion rather than rely on Irish doctors fearful of being prosecuted.

In an 11-6 verdict, the 17 Strasbourg judges said Ireland was wrong to keep the legal situation unclear and said the Irish government had offered no credible explanation for its failure. The Irish judge on the panel, Mary Finlay Geoghegan, sided with that majority view.

The judges wrote that Ireland's failure "has resulted in a striking discordance between the theoretical right to a lawful abortion in Ireland on grounds of a relevant risk to a woman's life, and the reality of its practical implementation."

Under Irish law dating back to 1861, a doctor and patient both could be prosecuted for murder if an abortion was later deemed not to be medically necessary.

The Strasbourg court broadly upheld Ireland's right to outlaw abortion in the overwhelming majority of cases because that reflects "the profound moral values of the Irish people in respect of the right to life of the unborn." Voters in this predominantly Catholic nation enshrined that ban into the Irish Constitution in 1983.

But the court found Ireland guilty of violating one woman's rights.

The lawsuit dates back to 2005, when the Irish Family Planning Association sued Ireland's government on behalf of three women who traveled overseas that year for abortions: an Irish woman who had four previous children placed in state care, an Irish woman who didn't want to become a single mother, and a Lithuanian woman living in Ireland who was in remission from a rare form of cancer.

The judges said the first two women had failed to demonstrate that their pregnancies represented a sufficient risk to their health, but the Lithuanian woman faced a life-threatening situation. It ordered Ireland to pay her euro15,000 ($20,000) in damages.

The judges lambasted Ireland's defense claiming that the woman should have petitioned the Irish High Court for the right to have an abortion in Ireland. They said Irish doctors must be given clear legal guidance on the eligibility rules for abortions.

Health Minister Mary Harney said she was confident that Ireland would draft legislation to bring the country's laws into line with its own Supreme Court — but said the step would have to wait for the next government. Ireland faces an unscheduled national election in the spring.

"Clearly we have to legislate, there's no doubt about that," Harney said. "But I don't think we have the capacity to bring forward proposals in a matter of weeks."

Harney noted that the government twice tried to resolve the issue with referendums in 1992 and 2001, but voters on both sides of the abortion argument rejected that constitutional amendment. In both cases, the government sought to limit the right to legal abortion only to cases where the woman was at risk of death — but excluding suicide threats.

She said lawmakers would face a "highly sensitive and complex" debate over what specific definitions should apply for life-threatening conditions. She said pregnant women suffering from cervical cancer, exceptionally high blood pressure or ectopic pregnancies already were receiving abortions in Irish hospitals.

The vast majority of nations in the 47-member Council of Europe permit broad access to abortion, most recently Spain, which legalized first-trimester abortions in July. Only Malta and Vatican City ban the practice outright, while several others seek to limit it to exceptional cases including rape and fetal abnormalities.

European Court of Human Rights judgments are legally binding but difficult to enforce. Council of Europe nations often take years to enact the legal reforms ordered. An offending nation that refuses to observe a court order could be expelled from the Council of Europe, but this has never happened.

Thursday's judgment was the first by the Strasbourg court against Ireland since 1988, when Dublin gay activist David Norris successfully sued the Irish government over its law defining homosexuality as a crime. Ireland legalized homosexuality in 1993.

The Irish Family Planning Association and an Irish lobbying group, Doctors for Choice, welcomed Thursday's verdict.

"Doctors can feel vindicated today. For the first time we can feel confident about discussing abortion as an option for women in medical need without fearing prosecution," said Dr. Mary Favier, director of Doctors for Choice.

But William Binchy, a Trinity College Dublin law professor who advises Ireland's Pro Life Campaign, said the judgment did not explicitly order Ireland to pass any new legislation. He said Ireland should kick the issue back to the public for a fourth referendum.

"What's at stake in this debate is the value of life. The sad experience is that once laws permitting abortion are introduced, they diminish the society's respect for the inherent value of every human life, born or unborn," Binchy said.

And Brady, the Catholic cardinal, suggested that Irish people would never vote to permit abortion even for exceptional cases.

"The direct destruction of an innocent human life can never be justified, however difficult the circumstances," he said. "We are always obliged to act with respect for the inherent right to life of both the mother and the unborn child in the mother's womb. No law which subordinates the rights of any human being to those of other human beings can be regarded as a just law."

China could face peak coal

by Staff Writers
Beijing (UPI) Dec 15, 2010

China could be faced with the very real possibility of peak coal -- the point at which demand for coal will outstrip domestic production capacity.

With domestic coal demand increasing around 10 percent each year, China would run out of coal in 21 years, even if it were to cut demand by 5 percent, Hong Kong brokerage CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets said in a recent report.

Beijing is considering an annual coal production cap of 3.6 billion-3.8 billion tons in its upcoming five-year plan to be released early next year, state-run news agency Xinhua reported.

Using the World Coal Institute figures showing China's coal reserves totaling around 110 billion tons, that would mean the country has enough coal for about 30 years of consumption at the 3.5 billion ton level.

China produces more than three times as much coal as the United States, which is ranked second globally in terms of production. If the current pace of growth continues, China would produce four times as much coal than the United States by 2012.

Now the world's biggest consumer of energy, the International Energy Agency predicts that China's thirst for energy will rise by 75 percent until 2035, when it will account for more than one-third of global demand.

China currently relies on coal for about 70 percent of its power.

A report from HSBC's alternative energy research unit in London released this week predicts that over the next 10 years, China would double its total electricity generating capacity to 1,800 gigawatts, from the current level of around 900 gigawatts. But most of that growth will still come from coal-fired power.

Richard Heinberg, a senior fellow at the Post-Carbon Institute in Santa Rosa, Calif., wrote in a recent report, "China's reliance on coal cannot be significantly reduced as long as its demand for electrical power continues to grow at anything like current rates. And even if energy demand growth tapers off and alternative energy sources come on line quickly, the country's ability to supply enough coal domestically will still be challenged."

To meet its demand for coal, China is relying more and more on imports from the United States, Canada, Australia, Indonesia, Colombia and South Africa.

In 2009, the United States exported 2,714 tons of coal to China, says the U.S. Energy Information Administration. That figure skyrocketed to 2.9 million tons just in the first six months of this year.

Source: Energy Daily.
Link: http://www.energy-daily.com/reports/China_could_face_peak_coal_999.html.

Russia, Mongolia set terms for uranium mining venture

by Staff Writers
Moscow (AFP) Dec 14, 2010

Russia and Mongolia set the terms Tuesday for the operation of a jointly-run uranium mine in the former Soviet satellite.

The Dornod Uran joint venture will dig for uranium in Mongolia's Dornod province and receive an initial investment of around 300 million dollars (225 million euros), Russian officials said.

The agreement was signed during talks here between Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his Mongolian counterpart Sukhbaatar Batbold.

Mongolia's mining industry is the country's largest, accounting for 40 percent of its export revenues, according to the World Nuclear Association.

Donrnod, Mongolia's biggest uranium deposit, was mined by a Russian subsidiary from 1988 to 1995.

Russia renewed interest in the site in 2009, when it initially created the new joint venture.

Source: Nuclear Power Daily.
Link: http://www.nuclearpowerdaily.com/reports/Russia_Mongolia_set_terms_for_uranium_mining_venture_999.html.

Turkish firm to build N.Africa's biggest football stadium in Tripoli

The stadium will be ready for African Nations Cup in 2013.

Friday, 17 December 2010

A Turkish company will construct the biggest football stadium of North Africa in Tripoli.

"Ronesans Holding" and its Austrian partner PORR AG will construct the stadium in Tripoli, the capital city of Libya.

The stadium will be ready for African Nations Cup in 2013.

The 200 million euro project will have a capacity of 50 thousand seats and will be constructed in line with UEFA standards.

The stadium will have a parking area for 10,000 vehicles.

The roof of the stadium will be built on three steel arches rising 100 meters to symbolize the ancient cities of Oea, Leptis Magna and Sabratha.

Kamil Yanikomeroglu, Chairman of Ronesans Holding Real Estate Group, said the due date of the stadium was 2013, however noted that they promised Libyan leader Muammer Ghaddafi's son Muhammed that they would conclude the construction till December 12, 2012 the time when a friendly match will be played between Libya and Brazil.

Yanikomeroglu said the stadium would be the biggest and most modern stadium of North Africa.

He said Ronesans Holding entered Libyan market 2.5 years ago, adding that, "our business volume in Libya amounted to 2 billion USD. We are planning to double it in two years."

Source: World Bulletin.
Link: http://www.worldbulletin.net/news_detail.php?id=67498.

Bosnia names Turkish bank as Best Bank of Year

Turkish Ziraat Bosnia has been operating in Bosnia-Herzegovina since 1997 and it has 21 branches in the country.

Friday, 17 December 2010

Turkey's state-run Ziraat Bankasi has been named "the Best Bank of the Year," and its director-general "the Best Manager of the Year" in Bosnia by Bosnia-Herzegovina's Civil Service Agency.

The prize was presented on Friday to Turkish Ziraat Bosnia's Director-General Kenan Bozkurt in a ceremony in Banja Luka, the second largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the administrative capital of Republika Srpska, with the participation of high-level officials from the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina and undersecretary with the Turkish Embassy in Sarajevo, Emre Zeki, as well as managers from the country's leading business groups.

The event's organizer, Pane Skrbic, said the agency had awarded the Turkish Ziraat Bosnia due to its strong capital position and its profitability at a time when a global economic recession had hit banks hard in Bosnia, which had seen a lost of 39 million euros in the banking sector in the third quarter of this year.

Turkish Ziraat Bosnia has been operating in Bosnia-Herzegovina since 1997 and it has 21 branches in the country.

Source: World Bulletin.
Link: http://www.worldbulletin.net/news_detail.php?id=67505.

Turkish minister says Istanbul needs new airport

Turkey's transportation minister said on Friday that a new airport in the commercial hub of Istanbul was inevitable.

Friday, 17 December 2010

Turkey's transportation minister said on Friday that a new airport in the commercial hub of Istanbul was inevitable.

Binali Yildirim said that there will be around 150 million passenger traffic in Istanbul by 2023, and only two airports, including Ataturk and Sabiha Gokcen international airports, could not meet this traffic.

"Therefore, a new airport is inevitable in Istanbul," Yildirim said during a meeting in Istanbul on increasing importance of Sabiha Gokcen International Airport in air transportation.

Sabiha Gokcen Airport suffered financial loss between 2001 and 2004. The total passenger traffic at the airport was 130,217 in 2002 but it reached to 10.2 million by November 2010.

Istanbul's second airport Sabiha Gokcen hosted 6.27 million passengers in the first seven months of 2010, up 94 percent from the same period a year earlier.

The airport almost caught last year's passenger number of 6.6 million in the first seven months of 2010. 4.2 million of total passengers used domestic flights. The number of domestic passengers rose 92 percent.

International passengers also increased 98 percent to 1.99 million. In July only, Sabiha Gokcen hosted 1.27 million passengers.

Sabiha Gokcen International Airport, situated on the Asian side of Istanbul, opened in 2001. In 2007, ISG, a consortium of Malaysia Airports Holdings, India's GMR Infrastructure and Turkey's Limak clinched the rights to manage Istanbul's second airport with a 1.9 billion-euro bid.

Source: World Bulletin.
Link: http://www.worldbulletin.net/news_detail.php?id=67512.

Turkey's Aegean businessmen to pay visit to Morocco

Businessmen and industrialists from the Aegean Region will pay a business trip to Morocco between December 17 and 20.

Thursday, 16 December 2010

Businessmen and industrialists from the Aegean Region will pay a business trip to Morocco between December 17 and 20.

Thirty members of Federation of Aegean and West Mediterranean Industrialists and Businessmen (ESIDEF) will visit Casablanca and Marakech, two important trade centers of North Africa that also possess biggest phosphate beds in the world.

ESIDEF's Executive Board President Ramazan Davulcuoglu said Thursday the group would be comprised of executives of marble, furniture, textile, machinery, construction, agriculture, food, iron-steel, leather and health companies.

Davulcuoglu also said a Turkish-Moroccan trade and investment forum would take place on the sidelines of their visit.

Source: World Bulletin.
Link: http://www.worldbulletin.net/news_detail.php?id=67467.

Russian Leningrad chamber to declare 2011 "Turkey Year"

Leningrad Region Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Russian Federation will announce 2011 as "Turkey Year" on December 17.

Thursday, 16 December 2010

Leningrad Region Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Russian Federation will announce 2011 as "Turkey Year" on December 17.

A ceremony will take place on the occasion in St Petersburg, the biggest city of the region, on Friday. Ankara Chamber of Industry (ASO) Chairman Nurettin Ozdebir will attend the ceremony.

Ozdebir, speaking to A.A correspondent, stated that a delegation of Leningrad Region Chamber of Commerce and Industry visited Turkey after Russian President Dimitry Medvedev's visit in May and the two chambers signed a protocol.

Ozdebir said the Russian delegation visited ASO 1st Organized Industry Zone in Sincan region in Ankara and admired this place. "Leningrad Region Chamber of Commerce and Industry Chairman Rashid Ismagilov later sent me a letter and asked for my support to established an Organized Industrial Zone in Leningrad Region," he said.

"We paid a two-day visit to St. Petersburg in July and searched for a place to construct Organized Industry Zone. We paid a second visit afterwards," he said.

He said during the second visit on November 8-10, a protocol was signed between the Russian party and Turkish Company Ronesans Construction for the infrastructure investments in question," he said.

Ozdebir said executives of Leningrad Region Chamber of Commerce and Industry were affected by the endeavors of ASO and decided to announce 2011 as "Turkey Year" in Leningrad Region.

"I attach high importance to this event. I hope the activities will make significant contribution on economic relations as well as promotion of Turkey," he said.

Leningrad Region Chamber of Commerce and Industry was established on August 1, 1927. Located in the North-West of the Russian Federation, it covers the area of 85 900 km² and shares borders with Finland and Estonia, and also neighboring with five other administrative regions of the Russian Federation.

Source: World Bulletin.
Link: http://www.worldbulletin.net/news_detail.php?id=67466.

WikiLeaks reveals BP blowout in Azerbaijan

By Raw Story
Wednesday, December 15th, 2010

The latest WikiLeaks release of State Department cables could prove to be a PR disaster for energy giant BP, while highlighting WikiLeaks backers' claims that the secrets site is about more than antagonizing the US government.

According to cables released Wednesday by WikiLeaks and obtained by the Guardian, BP experienced a blowout in Azerbaijan in September, 2008, that had "striking resemblances" to the Gulf oil spill.

Eighteen months before the Deepwater Horizon exploded, killing 11 workers and sending millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, BP scrambled to keep a similar explosion at an Azerbaijan oil field a secret.

The Guardian reports:

The cables reveal that some of BP's partners in the gas field were upset that the company was so secretive about the incident that it even allegedly withheld information from them. They also say that BP was lucky that it was able to evacuate its 212 workers safely after the incident, which resulted in two fields being shut and output being cut by at least 500,000 barrels a day with production disrupted for months.

Other cables leaked tonight claim that the president of Azerbaijan accused BP of stealing $10bn of oil from his country and using "mild blackmail" to secure the rights to develop vast gas reserves in the Caspian Sea region.

The news comes as the US Department of Justice announced a lawsuit against BP that could see the multinational energy company on the hook for unlimited damages over the Gulf oil spill.

Source: The Raw Story.
Link: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/12/wikileaks-reveals-bp-blowout-azerbaijan/.

Jordan welcomes EasyJet new low-fare launch

Dec 16, 2010
By The Associated Press

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Jordan's tourist minister has welcomed budget airline EasyJet's new low fare route to the capital Amman, saying it will boost the country's tourism industry.

Minister Zeid Qsous called the start of regular EasyJet flights on March 27 "good news" because the company was a leading European carrier.

The British-based airline announced its first route to Jordan as the country signed its Open Skies agreement with the European Union.

EasyJet said flights went on sale Thursday. It expected to fly three times a week from London Gatwick to Amman with a return ticket priced at $166, or 106 British Pounds, tax inclusive.

The fare is around 25 percent of the rates offered by other airlines.

Copyright © 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Source: Bloomberg.
Link: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-16/jordan-welcomes-easyjet-new-low-fare-launch.html.

Pakistan closes strategic NW highway

Thu Dec 16, 2010

Pakistan's government has closed Torkham strategic highway in its northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province for two days, provincial officials say.

Pakistani security officials said the reason for closing Torkham highway was maintaining security during Ashura mourning ceremonies marking the commemoration of the martyrdom of the third Shia Imam, Imam Hussein (PBUH), a Press TV correspondent reported on Thursday.

Torkham strategic highway links Pakistan to neighboring Afghanistan.

According to the officials, no fuel trucks destined for US-led NATO troops in war-torn Afghanistan are allowed to pass through Torkham highway.

Pakistani officials have also banned the entry of Afghan refugees to Pakistani cities.

Meanwhile, unknown militants set a NATO fuel truck on fire in southwestern Balochistan province.

Armed militants stopped a NATO fuel truck and its driver as hostage at gunpoint. Later, they torched the truck in Kalat district, some 145 kilometers from the provincial capital, Quetta, on Wednesday.

The fuel truck was carrying fuel for the US-led NATO troops stationed in war-ravaged Afghanistan.

Security forces cordoned off the area and started search operation for arresting the attackers.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/155717.html.

French parliament approves 2011 budget

Thu, 16 Dec 2010

Paris - The French parliament has approved the 2011 budget, after a committee from both chambers, the National Assembly and the Senate, thrashed out a a final draft.

The bill, passed late Wednesday, foresees a reduction in the deficit of 60 billion euros (80 billion dollars) to 92 billion euros by the end of 2011.

That would bring the deficit down to around 6 per cent of gross national product, from the current 7.7 per cent.

New measures include a one per cent tax on internet advertising. Budget Minister Francois Baroin said that the closing of loop holes in the tax system would see the public's coffers boosted by an extra 11 billion euros.

France is counting on economic growth of 1.5 per cent this year and 2 per cent in 2011. Between 2012 and 2014 the government estimates this will increase to 2.5 per cent.

Inflation is to remain at 1.5 per cent this year and next, later increasing to 1.75 per cent.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/358451,parliament-approves-2011-budget.html.

Mugabe wife sues paper over Wikileaks claim of diamond deals

Thu, 16 Dec 2010

Harare - Grace Mugabe, president Robert Mugabe's 46-year-old wife, is suing the weekly Standard newspaper for 15 million US dollars for publishing a cable released by WikiLeaks claiming she was profiting tremendously from illegal diamond deals.

Raphael Khumalo, chief executive of Alpha Media Holdings which publishes the Standard, confirmed Thursday that the company had received the summons, adding "we are dealing with the matter in the usual way."

It is one of the first of thousands of leaked cables to result in legal action against the publication of the whistleblower group's controversial disclosure of official United States state department confidential and secret files.

The Standard last Sunday quoted from a Wikileaks cable written by former US ambassador to Harare, James McGee, that top officials of Mugabe's inner coterie, including Grace, were generating millions of dollars in personal income by hiring teams of diggers to hand-extract diamonds from the Chiadzwa diamond fields in eastern Zimbabwe.

The area first attracted international notoriety in 2008 after Mugabe's troops drove out thousands of illegal diggers. Two hundred people were reportedly killed and thousands others injured.

Zimbabwe has since been banned by the Kimberly Process, the international watchdog on blood diamonds, over charges against the government of smuggling diamonds on to the world market. Charges that Mugabe's elite benefited from corrupt management of Chiadzwa have been repeatedly asserted by international human rights groups.

The Standard wrote that Grace Mugabe has been fingered as one of the principal beneficiaries of the illegal diamond sales, which have been described as the dirtiest.

Lebanese villagers in two assaults on UN patrols - Summary

Thu, 16 Dec 2010

Beirut - French United Nations peacekeepers were assaulted Thursday by villagers in southern Lebanon in two separate incidents, prompting the country's army to intervene, a security official said.

Residents of the Hezbollah-controlled village of Tayri, east of the southern port city of Tyre, assaulted a French UNIFIL patrol, the source said.

The incident began when some of the villagers clashed with the patrol while it was conducting a GPS demarcation and tried to snatch the equipment they were using away from them, the source added.

The Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) came to the scene and resolved the situation by taking the patrol's computer at the request of the villagers.

The Tayri incident came few hours after residents from the southern village of Hariss protest when a French UNIFIL patrol was taking pictures in the area.

UNIFIL's general command alerted the Lebanese Army, which arrived at the scene to handle the incident, he added.

A UN source said the UNIFIL command " was investigating both incidents and they are in contact with the Lebanese army command."

Local residents said the attack against the patrol came as a result of the unit's increasingly "provocative" and "suspicious" behavior, taking what they described as "sensitive photographs."

Similar attacks took place in July between Lebanese villagers and French peacekeepers.

The repeated assaults have prompted a string of meetings in the past months between high-level Lebanese officials and army officers, UNIFIL commanders and the UN Special Envoy to Lebanon Michael Williams.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/358564,un-patrols-summary.html.

Former Kosovo premier denied temporary release

Thu, 16 Dec 2010

The Hague - Ramush Haradinaj, a former leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) who briefly served as prime minister of Kosovo, was Thursday denied provisional release by appeal judges at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).

Haradinaj is detained in The Hague, where he faces a retrial on charges of war crimes stemming from his role in the Kosovo War of 1999.

Judges had earlier this month granted Haradinaj provisional release, reportedly so that he could be with his wife when she gives birth to their child in January.

But the ICTY's appeals chamber on Wednesday quashed that decision after granting the prosecutor's appeal, with presiding judge Patrick Robinson arguing that Haradinaj could have taken advantage of his release to intimidate witnesses.

Haradinaj's Alliance for Future of Kosovo won nearly 11 per cent of the the vote in Sunday's snap parliamentary election.

He served as Kosovo prime minister for 100 days, stepping down after the ICTY issued an indictment against him in March 2005.

He traveled to The Hague voluntarily and was later acquitted, but now faces a retrial because of allegations that the original trial had been marred by witness intimidation.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/358576,premier-denied-temporary-release.html.

Ukraine parliament members brawl, two hospitalized

Thu, 16 Dec 2010

Kiev - Members of Ukraine's parliament brawled on Thursday evening, leaving two legislators hospitalized and dozens more with cuts and bruises.

The donnybrook involving more than 50 participants pitted deputies loyal to the ruling Regions of Ukraine party against members belonging to the opposition Motherland party.

The Motherland party members during the afternoon had surrounded the speaker's lectern and unplugged voting equipment in the chamber to prevent passage of legislation supported by the majority Regions.

The fistfight broke out after Regions deputies moved to push their political enemies away from the lectern and voting equipment.

The Regions members, many elected in Ukraine's industrial Donbass region, used superior weight and numbers to prevail in the ensuing melee.

Shoes, fists, chairs and paneling ripped from the chamber were visibly in action in images transmitted by the Channel 5 television channel. Vulgar language employed by many of the combatants was aired via a nationwide live TV feed as well.

Two parliament members, Ihor Gnatkevich and Vasyl Kravchiuk, required hospitalization for injuries suffered in the fight. Both are Motherland members.

Medical workers carried Kravchiuk out of the hall on a stretcher.

Parliament security guards made no attempt to intervene in the fight lasting some five minutes.

Journalists in a gallery overlooking the action refused orders by security to evacuate the chamber.

Regions of Ukraine is headed by President Viktor Yanukovych, a pro-Russia politician closely allied with big business.

Motherland is headed by former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, a populist politician supporting a western-leaning socialist agenda.

Physical occupation of the speaker's lectern in order to freeze debate and voting is a conventional tactic in Ukraine's parliament. Members in the past usually have not resorted to violence, in order to unblock the legislature's work.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/358578,parliament-members-brawl-hospitalized.html.

Julian Assange freed, fears extradition to US - Summary

Thu, 16 Dec 2010

London - WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, freed from custody in Britain, expressed fears Thursday that he could face a separate prosecution in the United States.

In an impromptu exchange with reporters outside the Frontline Club in London, where he stopped to have a drink after his release, Assange said he was less concerned about his possible extradition to Sweden than possible attempts to extradite him to the US.

He had heard "a rumor" from his lawyers in the US, which was not yet confirmed, that "there has been an indictment made against me in the US," said Assange. The New York Times has reported that the US government is trying to build a case Assange for collusion with a soldier suspected of leaking the information.

"I do not have too many fears about my extradition to Sweden. The much bigger fear is about extradition to the US," he said.

Just an hour earlier, Assange was freed after being granted conditional bail by a High Court judge, following nine days in custody in Wandsworth prison.

"It is great to smell the fresh air of London again," said the 39- year-old Australian, as he appeared on the steps of the Royal Courts of Justice.

He was later driven away to the country estate of a friend, Vaughan Smith, for what his lawyers joked was a period of "mansion arrest."

Assange vowed to continue his work for freedom and transparency in the interest of people living in conditions "more difficult than those faced by me."

"I hope to continue my work and protest my innocence in this matter and continue to reveal, as we get it, the evidence in these allegations," he said in a reference to the Swedish extradition request.

He described his spell in Wandsworth prison in London as "solitary confinement," but hailed the British justice system for helping him to gain freedom.

A High Court judge in London earlier Thursday granted Assange bail, dismissing an appeal against attempts by the prosecuting authorities to stop him being freed.

The appeal was based on the contention that Assange was a "flight risk" due to his "lifestyle connections." There was confusion Thursday as to which prosecuting authority brought the appeal.

The Swedish authorities denied any involvement in the process, while Britain's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said it acted as an "agent of the Swedish government," which had "supported" the appeal.

The controversial WikiLeaks founder will remain in Britain under strict bail conditions. The extradition case against him is due to begin early next year.

Assange has had to surrender his passport and will have to report daily to the police, observe a partial curfew and wear an electronic tag.

He will stay at Ellingham Hall, Smith's country estate in Suffolk, in south-east England.

However, his lawyers said they were relieved that no restrictions had been placed on his access to computers and ability to communicate with his organization and supporters.

WikiLeaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson said in London that Assange would be able to join the work to release more secret US diplomatic cables. "Even with the severe conditions, under virtual house arrest, he will be able to work," said Hrafnsson.

Assange's mother, Christine, who traveled from Australia for the court hearing, said she was "very, very happy" with the decision.

"I can't wait to see my son and hold him close," she said. Asked what would be the first thing she would do, she replied: "Hug him."

Supporters were jubilant as news of the bail decision spread.

The bail of 200,000 pounds (312,000 dollars), which had to be provided in cash, was put up by prominent human right campaigners, authors and film directors, including Bianca Jagger, Jemima Khan, Tariq Ali, US documentary maker Michael Moore and British director Ken Loach.

Two sureties of 20,000 pounds each have also been requested.

Assange was detained in London after turning himself in at a police station on December 7, on the basis of a European Arrest Warrant (EWA) issued by Sweden.

He is wanted in Sweden on allegations of sex offenses against two women, which he denies, saying that the claims arise from a dispute over "consensual, but unprotected, sex."

His supporters maintain that the allegations - denied by Assange - are "politically motivated" and aimed at targeting WikiLeaks for its online publications of secret US government documents.

WikiLeaks last month launched the publication of more than 250,000 top secret cables from the US State Department.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/358583,extradition-us-summary.html.

Assange says there is a 'lot more to come'

Thu, 16 Dec 2010

London - WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said in London Thursday there was "a lot more information to come" from the leaked US diplomatic cables currently being published by his organization.

He claimed the cables in WikiLeaks' possession showed that US ambassadors around the world were instructed to "steal the DNA" of human rights leaders and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

The leaked cables displayed "a gradual shift to a lack of rule of law in US institutions that needs to be exposed and we have been exposing," Assange said during an impromptu encounter with reporters after his release Thursday.

People had a "right to know" that US ambassadors were tasked to "engage in espionage behavior" without contacting the governments of their host countries, said Assange.

Referring to the widespread condemnation by governments of the activities of WikiLeaks, he said, "WikiLeaks is a resilient organization, that can withstand decapitation attacks," according to the Press Association.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/358584,is-a-lot-come.html.

Palestinian Authority demands Europeans recognize independent state

Thu, 16 Dec 2010

Ramallah - Palestinian Authority on Thursday officially demanded that European countries recognize an independent Palestinian state on the territories occupied in 1967 by Israel, with east Jerusalem as its capital.

Palestinian negotiator Nabil Shaath met in Ramallah with the ambassadors from France, Britain, Sweden, Denmark and the EU special envoy for peace. He demanded that their countries recognize a Palestinian state on 1967 borders.

In a press statement emailed to reporters, Shaath demanded European recognition for a Palestinian state, "even in case a peace agreement is not reached with Israel."

He urged Europe to play "a more influential role in the peace process, which reached a standstill amid a US failure in convincing Israel to freeze settlement building."

It is the first time that the Palestinians are officially demanding European recognition for the potential establishment of a Palestinian state.

Earlier this week, Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat addressed a letter to EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton to demand that she recognize a Palestinian state. EU foreign ministers said that they would recognize a state at the "appropriate" time.

Two Latin American countries, Argentina and Brazil, have declared that they are ready to recognize an independent Palestinian state with the 1967 boundaries.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/358589,europeans-recognize-independent-state.html.